2024 January — July Tour Opportunity: Lands of Luther

July Tour Opportunity: Lands of Luther

Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne (CTSFW), is marking the 25th anniversary of Christ Academy, its vocational discernment program for youth, with a “Lands of Luther Tour” July 9–19, 2024. The trip to Germany is open to Christ Academy alumni and friends and anyone else with an interest.

“Being able to celebrate where we have come from and where the program is going is the essence of this trip, especially at such a significant milestone,” said the Rev. Matthew Wietfeldt, Assistant Vice President of Admission and Christ Academy Director at CTSFW. “Christ Academy has become a staple of the Seminary community as we bring young people to our campus and form them for service to the Church and world.”

The Lands of Luther Tour will be co-hosted by Wietfeldt and Dr. Todd Peperkorn, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Mission and Director of Vicarage at CTSFW.

“What an incredible opportunity to learn our history as Lutherans!” said Peperkorn. “There’s nothing like seeing history come alive, walking in places where Luther, Melanchthon, and the other Reformers walked, and putting these places and names we read about in context.”

Tour participants will follow in the footsteps of Dr. Martin Luther, visiting important cities in the Reformation story including Wittenberg, where Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church; Erfurt, where Luther went to school and became a monk; the Wartburg Castle, where he lived in disguise and translated the New Testament into German; Eisleben, where he was born and died; and other Reformation sites. In addition to the Luther sites, participants will enjoy some of the magnificent scenery of the Rhine River Valley and visit Dresden, famous for its china and fine art, and Leipzig, where Johann Sebastian Bach is buried.

To learn more about the Lands of Luther Tour, visit ctsfw.edu/LandsOfLuther24. A tour packet with a registration form is available on the tour webpage.

About the Tour Hosts

Rev. Matthew Wietfeldt, Assistant Vice President of Admission and Christ Academy Director at CTSFW, has served at CTSFW for eight years and has been a pastor in the LCMS for twelve years. Under Rev. Wietfeldt’s leadership, Christ Academy programs—Christ Academy Confirmation, Christ Academy High School, Christ Academy College, and the new Christ Academy Family Institute—have reached record numbers of attendees while remaining faithful to their core principles: confessional catechesis, liturgical worship, and Lutheran community. Wietfeldt regularly shares his expertise in vocational discernment programs with church workers, conference attendees, and youth throughout the country.

Dr. Todd A. Peperkorn serves as Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Mission and Director of Vicarage at CTSFW. He graduated from Concordia University Nebraska (CUNE) in 1992 and is a graduate of CTSFW (MDiv 1996, STM 1999) and The Aquinas Institute of Theology (DMIN 2021). Before CTSFW, he served as pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and senior pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Rocklin, California.

Dr. Peperkorn’s writings include assisting with the Treasury of Daily Prayer in 2008 and the book, I Trust When Dark My Road: A Lutheran View of Depression, published in 2009.